Fourteen nonprofit agencies on the Westside and up Ute Pass joined for lunch Oct. 25 at the Westside Community Center. They were grant recipients from an available total of $111,900 this year in interest earnings from the William and Betty Osborne Trust Fund.
The annual occasion was organized by the Garden of the Gods Rotary, which awards the grants based on stipulations in the will left by William Osborne, who died in 1985, shortly after his wife did. The main intent, as described by Rotary members, is to help people in tough financial straits living within the
Westside/Ute Pass area that's designated in the will.

There were two first-time Osborne Fund recipients this year. One was Kids on Bikes, which received $4,000 to buy bikes for 50 students at Bristol Elementary, according to spokesperson Nikki McComsey, under a program that's tied in with good grades and behavior. “These are kids who [otherwise] might not
ever get a bike,” she said.
Another first-timer is the Catamount Institute, which will use its $3,500 to cover the costs of Title 1 (lower-income students) joining its after-school Young Environmental Stewards (YES) club in science-related field trips, Catamount Director Darlene Jensen said.
The Osbornes operated a Rexall drug store for many years at the southeast corner of Colorado Avenue and 25th Street (now the Chocolate Factory), and in the 1950s William helped start what is now Pikes Peak National Bank.
Also in keeping with the will, a committee consisting of the 10 past presidents of the Garden of the Gods Rotary each year reviews applications and decides how to disburse the funds.
Returning Osborne recipients this year are:

Assistance League of Colorado Springs ($5,000), whose Operation School Bell focuses on getting new clothes for poor kids.

Boys & Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region ($2,500). It operates several clubs with activities for youths, including one on the Westside.

Community of Caring - Cripple Creek ($10,000), which administrates 16 programs for the needy.

Friends of Garden of the Gods ($3,500), which offers educational programs about the Garden to students in the region, including hundreds on the Westside. A primary goal is to “educate and inspire young people so they will be stewards of this park,” said spokesperson Melissa Walker.

Greccio Housing ($4,800), which provides affordable housing for the working poor, explained its director, Lee Patke.

Help the Needy ($6,000), a Woodland Park agency that does exactly what it name means, according to its representative, Charles Schroeder. But it's also counseling-based: “We don't just hand them a check,” he said.

Pikes Peak Community Action Agency ($8,000), which offers varying programs including emergency aid, with the goal of helping struggling families stay off welfare. The agency's Billie Spielman Center is part of the Westside Community Center.